Statutory Authorities

Established in 1947, DOE’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) fulfills the agency’s responsibilities related to the collection, preservation, and dissemination of scientific and technical information emanating from DOE R&D activities. This responsibility has been codified in the organic, or enabling, legislation of DOE and its predecessor agencies and, more recently, was defined as a specific OSTI responsibility in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58), Section 982, called out responsibility of OSTI: “The Secretary, through the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, shall maintain with the Department publicly available collections of scientific and technical information resulting from research, development, demonstration, and commercial applications activities supported by the Department.”

Atomic Energy Acts of 1946 (P. L.79-585) and 1954, as amended (P.L. 83-703) established a program for the dissemination of unclassified scientific and technical information and for the control of classified information (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2013, 2051, and 2161).

America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), Section 1009, required that Federal agencies that conduct scientific research develop agency-specific policies and procedures regarding the public release of data and results of research.

America COMPETES Act of 2007 ((P.L. 110-69), Chapter 5, Section 3191, “National Energy Education Development, (a) The Secretary [of Energy]… in consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish a program to coordinate and make available to teachers and students web-based kindergarten through high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education resources relating to the science and energy mission of the Department, including existing instruction materials and protocols for classroom laboratory experiments.”